what is a writer?

Answer 1

A person trying to communicate with whom ever will read what it is they had to say. Some one who need to put o paper for the world to read and critize or take heed too.

Answer 2

A story teller
A history maker or accurate record keeper.
A fantasy
A dreamer
and I too agree with masochist...
A clever purveyor of a life lived or observed

and a well versed liar.
Beautiful...Any way you read him or her.

Here... Shelley said it best.

"Poets are the trumpets which sing to battle. Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world."

This applies to all kinds of writers of course: Poets being counted among my personal favorites...

To The Writers

Every great thing ever written
Was written, in the moment.
Slowing time like only the written word can
Making it, taking it by the spelled out h-a–n-d
And leading it through the barren lands
To bloom again on foreign shores
embedded deep within the heart of all those who read.
Every great thing ever written
Was bought with heart blood and curiosty.
Dripping down into a pen
Scripted from the secret places,
dictated from somewhere
Only the open, can even begin to comprehend.
We are the used, the animated, the complicated
The catalysts for cannons
The fearless, like promethius
bound by our own restrictions.
Leaving the reading world gaping
But accepting...
Because they have a subconscience
Predisposition, without the means
To comprehend its reason,
the audience knows
Its place and its purpose,
Is to attend.
We let it in
We hear beyond words
feel beyond touch
To know that there is something out there
beyond our senses,
beneath our defenses,
Deeper than life and breath and "depth and height".
We are the true temples, the cornerstones
of a readers countence
The places of worship
The pens for all the Gods appendages
The venting for their temperaments
We are…what only we, can understand.
One holding heart
One holding pen
Two hands occupied
By something other than carnal
Complication.

That is my own... but it is really old, so don't laugh...

Answer 3

Panama Jack's right. But the reasons we do this to ourselves are usually the same for all writers.

I write because I have too. I surpressed this need for nearly 50 years, though I would write short stories by long hand, I always tore them up, not wanting them to be seen by anyone else... But when it became easier to hide my stories (on a floppy I used in our new word processor) I began a novel.

What a feeling!! I put my characters on paper and they told me a story. I had a hard time keeping up with the writing.

THEY TOLD ME!! That novel will never be published or even edited (I might rewrite it someday but no plans on that right now).

Since that first attempt, I've written some very disturbing short stories (some on my site), developed an interest in American History and used that interest to write my next three novels.

For a writer there is nothing more satisifying nor more depressing than finishing a novel. SO, before I finish the current novel, I've started the next-- I also have sketchs for the next several.

Work? Yes it is. There is so much to learn about the syntex of putting a story of any length and content together--and the marketing is a horror. Lucking onto that one publisher or agent that likes your work enought to try and put it in print is a real fiasco, especially since the Internet has expanded the market--AND with that expansion has brought an increase in bad publishers/agent and those out to get all they can while giving nothing or very little back.

Is it all worth it? You bet. I love to write. I do find that I'm much more critical of the books I read, but I'm also critical of my own writing skills. I love the networking at conferences and getting my "fix" between conferences by doing critiques in groups (and getting them from others), going to workshops, and talking to other writers on the internet.

Answer 4

A writer is someone who writes. That's the simple definition and it covers everything from letters and emails and blogs to screenplays and newspapers and books.

People who consider themselves writers are those who are writing with the purpose of publication. These people fall into a multitude of groups like poets, journalists, nonfiction writers, authors, novelists, playwrights, cartoonists, columnists, song writers and screen writers. The one thing they have in common is they take what they do seriously (even the humor writers).

Since most of the members of these groups work in two or more areas, writer is the most popular identifier.

I can claim poet, author, novelist, nonfiction writer, journalist, and song writer myself. Yup, I'm a writer.

Answer 5

Huh??? Well, according to the Oxford dictionary:

writer |ˈrÄ«tər| noun a person who has written a particular text : the writer of the letter. • a person who writes books, stories, or articles as a job or regular occupation : the distinguished travel writer Freya Stark. • [with adj. ] a person who writes in a specified way : Dickens was a prolific writer. • a composer of musical works : a writer of military music. • Computing a device that writes data to a storage medium. • Stock Market a broker who makes an option available for purchase or sells options. • [with adj. ] a person who has a specified kind of handwriting : neat writers. • Brit., historical a scribe. • Brit., archaic a clerk, esp. in the navy or other government offices. PHRASES writer's block the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing. writer's cramp pain or stiffness in the hand caused by excessive writing. ORIGIN Old English wrÄ«tere (see write ).

Thesaurus
writer (noun) my favorite American writer, author, wordsmith, man/woman of letters, penman; novelist, essayist, biographer; journalist, columnist, correspondent; scriptwriter, playwright, dramatist, dramaturge, tragedian; poet; informal scribbler, scribe, hack.

Answer 6

Simple: a writer is a person who writes things, mostly stories.

Answer 7

Papev...what a wonderful poem..I didn't laugh at all!! A writer is a person that writes...be it for themselves or for money. It's a wonderful journey. Join the club.

Answer 8

"A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. " ~ Thomas Mann (1875 - 1955)

Answer 9

A masochist.